Popular Digital Painting Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Want digital painting software for your iPhone? There’s an app for that.

For the average person (and even a few artists), it seems like quite a stretch to think of the iPhone or iPod Touch as a digital painting platform. That’s probably due to the small screen size and the fact that you use your finger when most digital painting is done on large screens with a stylus. But there are actually quite a few digital painting apps, made specifically for iPhone and iPod Touch, that allow you to make great illustrations on your handheld device. Even AutoDesk SketchBook Pro, the TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award winner in our Digital Painting Software Review, has an iPhone app in the iTunes Store.

As you can imagine, things are a little different doing digital paintings on a small screen with your finger. But many digital artists have found that it’s a great way to practice, sketch out ideas and play around with designs whenever they are away from the computer. In fact, some people have grown to like digital painting on their iPhone so much that they have taken to doing final drawings on the mobile app instead of on full digital painting software.

The accuracy of the capacitive touchscreen in the iPhone and iPod Touch actually allow you to do elaborate drawing and painting despite the small screen. Watch this video demo of the SketchBook Mobile app to see what’s possible with just an iPhone.

These digital painting apps actually provide a fully featured program that allows you to use all the tools and techniques you’re accustomed to using in the full program. Large numbers of high quality brushes, fully customizable color palettes and movable layers are just a few of the features these programs provide.

Obviously, everything is simplified, and not every last feature from the full digital painting program has made it into the app, partly because of the limitations of the iPhone. For instance, Autodesk SketchBook Mobile only allows you to use a maximum of 3 layers, which is a tight restriction for many artists. Another drawback of SketchBook Mobile is the canvas size, which is fairly limited compared to some other digital painting apps.

Fortunately, there are a myriad of other options out there. Some of the most popular include Brushes and Layers, which have been used to create amazing illustrations on a simple touchscreen. Check out the videos below to see what I’m talking about.

Layers

Brushes

Each program has advantages and disadvantages, but they all provide the basic digital painting tools you need. Brushes and Layers remain some of the most popular digital painting apps because they have some of the best combinations of features packed into a touchscreen interface. For instance, in comparison to SketchBook Mobile’s canvas size restrictions, Brushes and Layers can both use canvases several thousand pixels long or wide. They also allow for more layers, but only 4 and 5, respectively. To be honest, despite SktechBook Pro being one of the best digital painting programs out there, the mobile app isn’t even in the top 3, but the good news is that there are many digital painting apps to choose from in the iTunes Store.

You no longer need be confined to a computer to use digital painting software. Mobile apps, like SketchBook Mobile, Brushes and Layers for the iPhone and iPod Touch allow you to take your art with you. So check them out and let your creative side go wild no matter where you are.

For more info, see the digital painting software review site. For more on apps, see the iPhone app review site.